Northwoods Wineapalooza
Boulder Junction, Wisconsin
Tasted Friday, September 7, 2007 - Sunday, September 9, 2007 by vanpe003 with 1,587 views
Introduction
A three day event, with friends both old and new flying in from around the country to enjoy early fall in Northern Wisconsin. A bit of the Wisconsin outdoors, and a lot of wine. Pinots on Friday, Champagne Saturday morning, Cabernets / Blends and Random Reds Saturday evening, and leftovers Sunday and throughout the weekend. While there was some belief that too many wines were opened, it was a fascinating chance to taste similar wines side-by-side.
Flight 1 - Pinot Flight (15 Notes)
Mostly young, mostly California and Oregon sourced. The exceptions were several nice Burgundies that Kim brought, as well as a Santa Cruz pinot he made himself, which might have been the surprise of the evening. It stood up quite nicely to the rest of the bottlings, probably finding more in common with the Burgundies than with the other California wines. Impressive!
Flight 2 - Champagne Saturday - Hair of the Dog (4 Notes)
Frank is a Champagne freak, so a time slot had to be carved out to do a bit of comparitive tasting. The only slot available was breakfast!
Flight 3 - Cabernet Blends (16 Notes)
Probably the most dischordant grouping, in that this group ran the gamut from nicely aged, traditionally crafted Cabernet to the fruit bombs more prevalent today. It was almost as though there were two distinct varietals participating in this flight. For future reference, mature wines should be separated into their own flight. Too many got lost in the crowd.
Flight 4 - Intermission - Some Whites (3 Notes)
After pounding the palate with a fine selection of Cabernet blends, a bit of a respite was required, and Kim was kind enough to break out a few very nice White Burgundies, and Frank threw in a few others for good measure.
Flight 5 - Ports (2 Notes)
Miker's forte, and he didn't disappoint. Some nice bottles to round out the evening.
Flight 6 - Sunday Evening Closing (1 Note)
Not many folks left on Sunday, but there were a whole bunch of leftovers from Friday and Saturday. Two bottles were opened, both very nice. The Dow's Boardroom doesn't have a tasting note below, but was a worthy bottle for closing up the event. Nicely done Miker!
Closing
By any rational assessment, a ridiculous amount of wine was opened for 7 participants. But, on balance, it provided a great opportunity to taste peer wines head-to-head. Compared to some of the other events I've seen posted on CT, this one could even be viewed as rational. In terms of total dollar outlay, it was relatively modest compared to some of the "Taste the Legends" events I've read about.
As a lesson for any future events, more care should be taken to avoid opening wines that are markedly dissimilar stylistically. In this case, the examples involved several older cabernets that probably would have been quite a treat on their own, or matched with other wines of similar maturity and/or character. But they were lost, and therefore wasted among the bolder Cabernet offerings. Interestingly, the same cannot be said of the aged Burgundies, which offered a nice counterpoint against the more youthful California / Oregon pinots served. Go figure!
Interestingly, I've read on several occasions that while heavier, extracted youthful Cailfornia Cabs may not provide the same intellectual experience that older, more traditional Cabs might, they are often the first bottles to be emptied at an open pour tasting. That certainly held true this weekend, but might not have been the case in a venue where food played a more prominent role.
2004 J. K. Carriere Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
(9/8/2007)
No dtl'd notes. Marker for 3 day tasting @ Wineapalooza. For me, one of the top 2-3 US pinots, out of approx 12 opened.
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2003 Shea Wine Cellars Pinot Noir Estate Shea Vineyard
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
(9/8/2007)
No dtl'd notes. Marker for 3 day tasting @ Wineapalooza. Among the top US contenders on Pinot night.
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2004 Walter Hansel Winery Pinot Noir The Three Rows
USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
(9/8/2007)
No dtl'd notes. Marker for 3 day tasting @ Wineapalooza. Of the US stuff poured, this was among the most elegant, balanced, and Burgundian. On the basis of this btl, have started to seek out Hansel pinots more aggressively.
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2004 Lemelson Vineyards Pinot Noir Thea's Selection
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
(9/8/2007)
No dtl'd notes. Marker for 3 day tasting @ Wineapalooza. One of the more forward of the Pinots served on the first night. Does not require a lot of intellectual thought to enjoy. Similar experience to the detailed notes from a week or two earlier.
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2003 St. Innocent Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton
(9/8/2007)
Another example that supports my growing fondness for anything sourced out of Shea Vineyard. On this evening, I'd give a slight nod to the version from Shea Wine Cellars.
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2005 Vision Cellars Pinot Noir Garys' Vineyard
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
(9/8/2007)
No dtl'd notes. Marker for 3 day tasting @ Wineapalooza. While a very nice wine, there were better that evening. This showed middle of the pack.
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2004 Elyse Pinot Noir
USA, California, North Coast, Wild Horse Valley
(9/8/2007)
No dtl'd notes. Marker for 3 day tasting @ Wineapalooza. Don't recall much of this one.
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2004 Loring Wine Company Pinot Noir Durell Vineyard
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
(9/8/2007)
No dtl'd notes. Marker for 3 day tasting @ Wineapalooza. Don't recall much of this one, other than there was still plenty of this left the next morning. Was less approachable/compelling than several of the others, seemed to run a little bit hot. Perhaps would benefit from a bit more btl age.
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2005 Pahlmeyer Pinot Noir Jayson
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
(9/8/2007)
No dtl'd notes. Marker for 3 day tasting @ Wineapalooza. Didn't make a signficant impression on this evening, which probably puts it down the list a bit. Normally a very nice bottle, so I expect this was more a function of palate fatigue.
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2006 Felton Road Pinot Noir Central Otago
New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago
(9/8/2007)
No dtl'd notes. Marker for 3 day tasting @ Wineapalooza. Liked this one, might have to pick up a few btls so I can remember why.
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2005 August Briggs Pinot Noir Carneros
USA, California, Napa / Sonoma, Carneros
(9/8/2007)
No dtl'd notes. Marker for 3 day tasting @ Wineapalooza. In the bottom half on Friday, but came into its own and was quite enjoyable 2 days later. Would suggest potential for favorable 2-3 year evolution in the bottle.
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1997 Domaine Dujac Clos Saint-Denis
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Saint-Denis Grand Cru
(9/8/2007)
No dtl'd notes. Marker for 3 day tasting @ Wineapalooza. Quite a switch moving from full throttle US Pinot to this elegant and refined bottle. Very enjoyable.
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2000 Domaine Arlaud Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru Les Millandes
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru
(9/8/2007)
No dtl'd notes. Marker for 3 day tasting @ Wineapalooza. Enjoyed all three of Kim's contributions, of which this was one.
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2000 Hubert Lignier Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru Vieilles Vignes
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru
(9/8/2007)
No dtl'd notes. Marker for 3 day tasting @ Wineapalooza. One of the best of the evening.
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2002 Faiveley Echezeaux
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru
(9/8/2007)
No dtl'd notes. Marker for 3 day tasting @ Wineapalooza. I brought this, and thought it was among the weaker of the Burgundies on Pinot night. Perhaps it suffered from its relative youth. I would have rated 85-87.
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